Transaction cards, such as credit and debit cards, have increasingly become a primary means for customers to complete financial transactions. Typically, transaction cards are formed out of a plastic material as a single piece. For example, a typical credit card may be manufactured out of plastic such as polycarbonate (PC) or polyvinyl chloride (PVC) using an injection molding process. The plastic card may then be modified to add functional and/or visual features. For example, a magnetic strip or electronic device (e.g., a microchip) may be affixed to one side, the card may be stamped with the card number and customer name, and color or a design may be added for appearance.
Transaction cards are typically placed in a pocket, sleeve, or slot of a wallet, carrying case, or other type of card-carrying apparatus. To perform their function properly, card wallets and carrying cases are frequently equipped with multiple pockets, sleeves, or slots in close proximity to each other for holding one or more cards in an arrangement selected by the user. In order to hold cards snugly, these features are often designed to provide very little space for the card. Moreover, with a limited number of separate card-receiving receptacles in their wallet or carrying case, many people find it necessary to store two, three or more cards in a single pocket, sleeve, or slot (all forms of card-receiving features are referred to herein as “pockets”).
The result is that the cards are often held tightly within each pocket, and several factors may contribute to making it difficult to remove or replace a particular desired card from or into a pocket. For example, if a consumer needs to remove a card sandwiched between two other cards in a single pocket, or insert a card into a pocket when other adjacent pockets already contain cards, there may be difficulty in gripping an individual card or sliding a card into a pocket. In addition, the surface of many cards, such as credit cards and ATM cards, is smooth, making it difficult to grip. Consumers with large fingers, or elderly consumers or others with reduced dexterity, may thus encounter special difficulties in extricating a particular card from a wallet or carrying case, or reinserting the card back into the pocket of the carrying. Difficulty in removing a single selected card increases the time necessary for the transaction, causes stored cards to be frequently reshuffled and potentially disorganized, and increases the likelihood that cards will be dropped or lost. Similarly, difficulty in inserting a card into a pocket increases the time involved in performing a transaction and increases the likelihood that cards will be dropped or lost.
Vendors also have an interest in the ease of card removal. For a vendor, an important object of a transaction is to receive the correct card from the consumer, collect the necessary information—for example by reading the encoded information on the card's magnetic stripe—and return the card promptly. A consumer's difficulty in removing a card from a wallet or carrying case or replacing cards back into the pockets of a card-carrying case may increase transaction time, which may lead in turn to longer lines and increased waiting time for other consumers, or the need for additional personnel to serve customers in a prompt manner.
The present disclosure is directed to overcoming one or more of the problems set forth above and/or other problems associated with conventional transaction card constructions.